Rochester Avenue // Luke Hemmings

Chapter 2 - 'The Boys Will Probably Try And Hit On You'

"Oh my god. I heard about your interview," Jess said as she entered our dorm dramatically. "Have you done it? Was it okay? Did you get the internship?"

The phone call had ended a few minutes ago and I was still staring at my phone in my hand. I was sort of in shock. "The interview... it went... it went really well," I said honestly, putting my phone on the desk and collapsing on my bed.

"Seriously? How do you know?" Jess sat at the foot of my bed with wide eyes. "Did they say you got it?"

"Not exactly. The interviewer, whose name was Mark, asked some questions, I answered, it all went pretty smoothly, then at the end they kind of said something like, 'I think you'll do really well here' and they said they would get in contact soon." A grin stretched across my face. "That sounds pretty good to me."

"It does sound likely you'll get the internship," Jess agreed. "And with Capitol Records? That is just so cool."

"I know. How long do you think it will be before I hear from them?"

"I literally know nothing about the music industry, so don't ask me that. Maybe it'll be tomorrow. Maybe in a few days. Do you know when the internship actually starts?" she asked me.

"I think it's pretty soon," I told her. "I think my interview was kind of a last minute thing."

Over dinner, I told George what Mark had said and he was very excited. Nathan sat next to me, not saying a word. Tristan had really cheered up since breakfast and congratulated me in advance with Jess smiling lovingly at him. I caught George frowning at Nathan who didn't even seem to notice, but appeared to be very engrossed in his food. I felt a stab of annoyance but did my best to ignore my not-so-supportive boyfriend.

When Nathan had finished his food, he got up as if to leave, but I placed my hand on his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"To bed," he said shortly, shrugging off my hand and walking off.

"What's up with him?" Jess said in confusion.

I sighed. "Who knows. I'm going to go after him." I saw George giving me a disapproving glance, but I avoided his gaze as I made my way after Nathan.

When I caught up with him, I grabbed his hand and spun him round to face me. "Nathan, what's wrong? Are you mad?"

"No, I'm not mad." He looked down on me a little condescendingly.

"Is this about the internship?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I just think that's not you. You could do better. I really think you should join the one I'm doing."

I stepped back a little. "Nathan, as my boyfriend, you're supposed to be supportive of me. Can't you see I'm excited about this?"

"No," he said bluntly. "I think this is what your dad wants, not you."

"Then you clearly don't know me very well," I responded, stung. "Why can't you just be happy for me for once?"

Nathan watched me for a moment, then smiled a bit. "You're right. I'm sorry. If this is what you want, then who am I to criticize you?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in surprise at his sudden change in attitude, but I wasn't going to complain. So instead I smiled back at him. "Thank you." I reached up and kissed him, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing me back. When we broke apart, he rested his forehead on mine and said quietly, "My roommate's out tonight. You want to come over?"

I bit my lip and nodded. We walked back to his room and I shut the door behind me.

~ ~ ~

The next morning when I went back to my dorm, Jess raised her eyebrows but didn't comment on the fact that I wasn't here last night. Instead, she said, "They might call you today."